


i like that you're lonely, lonely like me

by JakeyFryMason011



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Nerd Boy and Goth Girl
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-15
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-08-23 10:36:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16617347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JakeyFryMason011/pseuds/JakeyFryMason011
Summary: (ORIGINAL VERSION, PURGATORIO, WAS ACCIDENTALLY DELETED)Dustin Henderson is in high school now.And he feels alone.Sure, he has friends, but all of them are going out with someone, and even Will has a girl who's into him. Dustin? Dustin's all alone.Then, a pale, dark, purple-haired girl shows up in his life.





	1. Purple Stripe

**Author's Note:**

> So...I accidentally deleted the original version of this story (sorry, OTTSTF!) but I figure it's a good opportunity to start anew and rewrite both Dustin and Emma so that they fit into character better, and Emma will be rewritten to sound more like my girlfriend. I'm also going to make chapters longer, and Jennifer/Will is going to be a bit more prominent. Also, sadly, El isn't going to high school just yet (she will later but not right away). Sorry again! Let me know if the remake is bullshit, as most remakes are.

"Excited for school today?" his mother asked him, opening the door, to find her son sprawled face-first on the floor. "Dusty?" she asked.

"Leave me here to die," he groaned.

His mother only smiled. "You'll be excited once you get up. Breakfast is on the table."

He didn't feel any more excited after getting up. Or after breakfast. Or after showering, brushing his teeth, or pedaling away on his bike with his backpack banging on his shoulder.

The others were waiting outside the school off to the side, hoping no one would see them. Mike was quite obviously sulking over not getting to see El, Will looked like he wanted to dig a hole in the grass and never come out, and Lucas and Max were attached at the hip.

Dustin's stomach gave a familiar dull tug at seeing Max, which he ignored. His own feelings aside, he was happy for Lucas.

"Hi, guys," he said. Will waved at him anxiously and Mike only grunted. Max had a determined glint in her eye. "Great, now we can go in," she said, popping her knuckles.

Will nodded with a sigh. "Might as well get it over with."

They walked into the school nervously, taking care that none of their backs were exposed too much. Max walked to the back of them, knowing nobody would dare try and mess with her.

A gaggle of girls were gathered around a locker, gossiping, and one pointed and whispered something at the.

"C'mon," Mike said, wanting to get out of there, but suddenly one of them called out. "Will!" she said. Mike looked even more desperate to get out of there, but Will looked like he wanted to run away, out of the school, maybe even out of the state.

"Y-yeah?" he stammered, turning. A blond girl, pretty but not artificially so, walked up to him. "Hey, you're in art class, right?" she asked him.

"Uh, yeah...why?" He looked downright terrified.

"Well--" was she _blushing_? "--I was wondering if you could help me with some of my art homework? Due--"

"Yeah, I-I remember. Tomorrow."

She nodded and grinned at him. "What do you say? Would you mind just...helping me out?"

"I don't, um, know how much help I could be." He was looking resolutely at his shoes.

The girl just laughed. "Please. You're one of the better artists in the whole class."

Will just smiled shyly at her, shuffling his feet. "I-I guess I could help. At lunch, or...yeah."

She beamed at him. "Thank you! You're, like, a lifesaver." Then, she went back to her friends.

The Party walked away.

"Who the hell was that?" Mike said once they were out of earshot.

"Jennifer Hayes," Max said.

"Okay, I know that, I guess a better question is _what_ the hell was that."

Will was still looking at his shoes.

"If it's a trap, duck under the tables and run that way," Dustin said. Will looked at him, confused on whether or not this was a joke, but Dustin looked dead serious for the first time in a while. "Seriously."

"Okay. I'll, um, keep that in mind," Will said. He still looked wholly shell-shocked.

"This is us," Max said as she and Lucas stopped. "See you in an hour, Mike."

"Cool," Mike said, and the two walked into the classroom. He split off a little while later, and then it was just Will and Dustin.

"She cried at my funeral, right?" Will asked Dustin quietly.

"Yeah," Dustin said, even though Will already knew. Will blushed and looked at his shoes.

Will had admitted to them all about his massive crush on her than he had kept under wraps surprisingly well. "You can't tell anyone," he pleaded. "Guys, please." They swore on their comics they wouldn't tell a soul, although Max had pointed out "Who are we going to tell anyway?"

"Here's my class," Will said.

"See you, Byers," Dustin said, waving, and the two parted.

His first class was science, run by a sour-faced old woman named Mrs. Ratliffe, who apparently had been around forever.

"LATE!" she hissed at him when he walked in.

"Um, actually, class doesn't start until about five minutes."

She blinked. "Oh. Well, then, don't correct me, Henderson!"

Dustin walked to his desk, rolling his eyes.

The classroom steadily filled with other students, some who gave him funny looks and others who just ignored him altogether. Class had already started when another student jogged in.

"LATE!" Mrs Ratliffe hissed again, this time with good reason. Dustin glanced up, and then stopped entirely.

The late student looked terrifying.

She was tall, maybe a bit taller than he was, and looked like she might stab him if he pissed her off. She was pale, with small glasses and vaguely curly brown hair that reached for her shirt collar in vain. Her shirt had a picture of a skull on it, and her sweater, black, screamed "SHUT UP" in red letters. He noticed she had fingerless gloves on.

He also noticed an oddly mesmerizing purple stripe in her hair.

The girl rolled her eyes very openly at the teacher (Mrs Ratliffe sputtered) and walked to her desk. She noticed Dustin gaping at her. "What are you looking at?" she said.

Dustin blinked. "Um, nothing."

The girl smirked at him and sat down in the back. (So that would be why he'd never seen her before).

He could feel her eyes stabbing his back and inwardly he shivered.

* * *

Jennifer waved at Will when he entered the cafeteria. She was sitting alone, eating, and he shyly sat down across from her. "Hi," he mumbled. She smiled back. "Hi! Thanks for helping out."

He only shrugged, fiddling with the hem of his shirt, and she pulled out her art book. "Here," she said, showing a page to him.

It was a flower in a vase. Will pulled the page towards him, unpacking his pencils. "It's not awful," he said, surprised. He had expected a lot worse.

He erased the offending line and redrew it, then rubbed his finger on the graphite. "See? It looks a little better already."

"Whoa," Jennifer said, leaning forward to look. She took the page from him when he offered it, and their fingers touched. Will's stomach flipped and he blushed. Jennifer smiled softly.

"Is that all?" she asked him. Will nodded. "I think so. It should be okay."

"And you said you weren't good," she said coyly, and Will shrugged modestly. "I just fixed a few things."

"Yeah, but you actually caught it." Then, to his surprise, Jennifer placed her hand on top of his, stroking the back. He stared, then looked up in surprise.

Jennifer smiled, except this time it was laced with mild teasing. "Thanks a lot," she whispered.

They ate that way, hands touching.

* * *

"What's with you?" Max asked him when he walked back with them to science, Jennifer waving goodbye.

"Nothing," Will said, looking abnormally cheerful. Dustin elbowed him. "How was lunch with  _Jennifer?"_ Will turned scarlet, blushing. "It was...nice."

"Why didn't you kiss her?" Max asked, laughing. Will tried to glare. "Shut up, guys."

He failed in his attempt to glare, instead blushing even more and looking at his shoes. The others giggled at his expense.

* * *

School was finally over, and the group left the school in a rush.

"Bye, Will," a voice said close to his ear, and Byers jumped and turned. Jennifer Hayes smiled. "See you tomorrow, huh?" 

"Y-yeah," Will stuttered, blushing, and Jennifer smiled and squeezed his hand briefly before jogging away, her hair waving at him.

Will stood stock still, brilliantly red, and turned to look at the others. "What?" he asked.

"Nooothing," Max sang. 

"Anyone want to go to the arcade so I can beat Max's score?" Dustin asked.

"As if!" Max fired back. Then: "But sure. Stalker?"

"Don't have anything better to do," Lucas said.

"Wait, we have to go and get--"

"Yes, we're gonna get El," Lucas said, rolling his eyes. Mike closed his mouth. 

"Hey," a voice said very suddenly behind Dustin. "Son of a bitch!" he yelped, spinning around. 

Then, he wanted to scream even more. Emma stood behind him. 

"Um, c-can I help you?" he asked nervously. Emma grinned, her eyes glinting almost deviously behind her glasses. "You dropped your coat," she said, holding it out. Dustin took it gingerly with a "th-thanks." 

Emma smirked, tucking her hair behind her ear. "No problem." Then, she was gone.

Dustin put on his jacket, turning around, to see the others gaping at him.

"You're not dead!" Will said. 

"What?"

"Dude," Max said. "Emma Enos gave you your jacket, and you didn't even get a glare."

"Wait, you all know who she is?" Dustin said.

"I'm surprised you don't," Mike said. 

"I haven't even talked to her except for just now," Dustin said, "so stop grinning at me, Maxine."

Max's smile dropped. "Call me Maxine again and I'll knock your remaining teeth out."

Dustin backed up. 

* * *

"Mike!" Eleven cheered, hugging her boyfriend tightly when they arrived at the Byers house. 

"Hey, Ellie," Mike said with a smile, kissing her.

"If you're finished," Dustin called, "I'd like to go before nightfall."

Mike flipped him off.

The group arrived at the arcade, laughing amongst themselves. El turned to Will, eyes big. "Jennifer touched your hand?"

Will blushed, and she smiled. "You should have kissed her."

"See, that's what I said!" Max piped up. Will just sighed.

Dustin was distracted, his mind having stayed at the school with Emma as she handed him his coat. Was it true, what they said? Was she really that bad? She certainly dressed appropriately, so if the rumors were false then she wasn't doing much to dispel the rumors. Dustin managed to beat Lucas but not Max on Dig Dug, something she crowed victoriously over. "Shit!" he said as the character died. 

"Looks like I still have the high score," Max said. "Fuck off, Mayfield," Dustin snapped back. The red-haired girl only cackled and danced out of reach.

They left when Keith told them he was closing up, standing outside in the still-crowded parking lot and just talking. They had thirty minutes until it was time for them all to head home, and nobody felt like heading back just yet. Dustin was still sulking at not beating Max's score.

"Hey, Henderson!" a voice shouted, and Dustin and the others looked up as a hooded figure approached. Whoever it was pulled down the hood with flourish and blond hair bounced out, revealing none other than Stacey.

"Shit," Dustin muttered to the others, a phrase mirrored on each of their faces.

"I figured I'd see you here," the girl said, walking up to them. Dustin only nodded. Hostility radiated from the faces of the others: "Uh, yeah," was all he said. Then, "what are you doing here?"

"Um..." For the first time in perhaps her entire life, Stacey looked uncertain. "I wanted to, like, apologize or whatever."

Dustin just blinked at her. "Uh, for what, exactly?"

"For being an asshole. Back at the Snow Ball," she added.

"Oh," Dustin said, trying to process that. "Well, uh, okay. Thanks, I guess."

"So...are we, you know, cool?"

Really, when had they ever been cool? Stacey had been sort of a dick for a very long time, not just the Snow Ball. She had dedicated almost all of her time to tormenting the small Party.

"I guess so?" By this point the poor boy was absolutely, completely befuddled. Why was she apologizing now, or even at all?

Stacey nodded. "Okay. Thanks."

"Um, no problem."

"Cool. Okay. See you around then, Henderson." Tossing her hair, she walked away into the darkness.

Dustin gaped after her, before turning around to the others. "Holy _shit,"_ he hissed. " _Holy shit."_

"Dude," Max said. "Stacey just apologized. For probably the first time in her whole life."

"Maybe she's genuinely trying to be nice," Will said, ever trying to find the good in people.

"Or maybe it's a trap," Mike said.

"What the hell was all that?" Dustin asked. Lucas shrugged. "Girls are weird. Popular girls more so then most."

El frowned. "I don't like her," she annnounced.

"None of us really do, Ellie," Max said.

"Still, it was nice of her to apologize."

Dustin had a lot to process, that was for sure.

Off to the distance, hidden in the dark, someone lit a cigarette, snarling silently in the direction Stacey had left.


	2. The Group

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dustin's mother signs him up for a games group, and, as it turns out, Emma's in the group as well. Meanwhile, Will hangs out with Jen and they share a nice moment.

One week later.

Dustin really, really did not want to go to just another activity after school, but his mother had signed him up and there wasn't really much to do except drag himself off.

He was in a small room towards the back of the library, where a fold-out table and a few mismatched chairs had hastily been set up. A few people sat with varying degrees of boredom around the room.

He looked around for a place to sit, instinctively looking for somewhere where nobody else was--at the very least, middle and high school had taught him that.

Squeezing between where a long-haired boy with a jean jacket was having a shoving match with blonde boy in a blue hoodie, he made his way to a corner and sat down.

Dustin zoned out for a good ten minutes while he waited, when suddenly a hand reached out and lightly slapped his cheek. He made to glare at the owner of the offending hand when he actually looked at it: long-fingered, pale with a fingerless glove.

Dustin gulped and turned to face the offender. Emma grinned down at him wickedly, and Dustin resisted the urge to get up and run away. Minus already being somewhat scared of her, the others had filled him in on all the rumors about her. Truthfully, he could very easily imagine her attacking someone with a knife.

"You were out of it," she said, still grinning.

"Oh," Dustin said. "Um...sorry?"

Her grin only got wider, not like that was really any help. It looked a little like the smile a wolf gives a small dog before it devours the small dog. "It's okay if I sit here, right?"

Dustin only blinked. "What?"

Rolling her eyes, she sat down next to him anyway. He wondered how many concealed weapons she had.

Emma tilted her head back, breathing in deeply, and just sat like that, with her head lolling back in her chair and the rest of her body limp. "Ugghh," she groaned. "How long is this thing again?"

Dustin glanced at the clock. "Half an hour to go."

"What are we even supposed to be doing?"

"Playing games," Dustin said, gesturing at the numerous boards scattered around the table. There was a teacher, but he currently was sitting in the corner reading a book.

She groaned, sitting up. "Want a cigarette?"

Dustin blinked. "Um...no thanks."

"Good. I don't have any," she said. "I wanted to buy some but fucking Melvald wouldn't let me."

"Oh," was all he said. He kind of wanted to relate, but since when had he tried buying cigarettes?

Emma smirked at him. "I'm kidding, Henderson. Relax."

Dustin shook his head, his cap loosening a little. The girl next to him grinned and poked his arm. Then, she reached up and stole his hat.

"Dude!" he said indignantly, reaching up for it, but she grinned and danced it out of reach. "Mine now," she said.

Dustin put his hands in his hair ruefully. "Man..." he muttered.

Emma tilted her head at him, twirling his hat on the end of her finger. "Nice," she said, prodding his curly afro.

He attempted a glare, and she laughed, pushing the hat onto her own hair and shaking her own hair out of her eyes.

You'd have to pull the information from his cold, dead fingers, but Dustin quietly thought she didn't look awful with it.

 _She doesn't look bad anyway,_ a little voice said in the back of his head.

 _Shut up,_ he told it.

She took the hat off now, and before he could react she crammed it sideways on his head. "Nice," she said, grinning. "Fashionable."

Dustin huffed, taking it off and rotating it so it faced the front.

Leaning back, Emma kicked her boots up on the table. "Did you do the homework for Ratliffe?" she asked him.

"You mean all ten pages? No."

It was by far the oddest conversation he'd had in a while, not because of the content, but because of how normal the conversation was with someone he usually avoided.

"Ratliffe's a bitch," she said, twirling her hair. "Did you hear she put Jeffrey Pike in detention because he sneezed too loudly?"

"Really?"

"Yeah. Shitty, right?"

"Jesus. Apparently she's been around since Hopper was in school."

Emma snorted, blowing a strand out of her face. "I don't think she's human sometimes."

"Thank you!" Dustin said, gesturing at her. "Lucas said I'm just ridiculous, but if you look at all the evidence--"

"Pale, about a thousand years old, witchy--yep."

"Finally," he said.

"All right," the teacher called from the desk, apparently having woken up. "Clean up your crud and get out."

Emma stretched, rolling her neck. "See you around, Henderson?"

"Sure," Dustin said, slinging his backpack over his arm. Emma nodded, flashing him a smile and punching his arm, and when he looked up from checking his zippers she was gone.

Seriously, how did she do that?

* * *

Will fiddled with his backpack strap anxiously, a notebook clasped in his hands as he made his way to the front door.

He knocked, noting how large it was--not to mention how much richer this family was than he.

No one answered, but he heard shouts from the back, so, glancing around, he walked around the back.

Jennifer was there, sitting in the yard and playing with a very small dog.

Will felt his heart rate speed up out of sheer nervousness. How was he supposed to talk to these sort of people again? Wait, what was talking?

"Will!" Jennifer said, waving and jogging up to him. "Hey!"

"Hi," he said, grinning nervously. "I, um, knocked, but nobody was there so I came around here. Here, I have the stuff to study for Walker's test."

The blonde girl smiled at him, taking the notebook. "You really didn't have to," she said.

Will just smiled and looked at his shoes. God, why did he have to be so awkward? "It wasn't any big deal."

She beamed, flipping through a few pages. "How long did this take you?"

"A few hours."

"You spent three hours on this?" she said, gazing at him.

"Uh...yeah. I mean--" he blushed-- "It was for a good cause."

"Thank you," Jennifer said. "Hey...um, do you want to...I don't know...hang out?"

He blinked, twisting his shirt in his hands. "Um--I can?"

She tilted her head, smiling. "If you want to."

That was how Will found himself sitting on the floor of her room, sitting next to her while she complained about their teachers.

"Sorry if I talk your ear off," she said.

"I don't mind," he replied.

"What happened to your eye?" Jennifer asked, reaching over and pressing her finger to a dark mark she hadn't noticed outside. Will flinched. "Uh--nothing."

She cocked an eyebrow at him and Will deflated. "It was Troy."

"Troy?"

"Yeah. Um, he cornered me in the hallway."

"Why?"

"Why? I don't know. He just doesn't like me."

Jennifer huffed. "I don't see why he wouldn't," she said.

Will blushed and ducked his head.

She moved closer, enough so their arms were touching. Will started to notice literally everything about where she was: her arms were touching his arms, her hair was tickling his ear, their hands were really very close.

His stomach flipped.

Then, she put her head on his shoulder. Will froze.

"Sorry," she whispered. "Is this...weird?"

"No," he managed.

"Good."

Their hands were excruciatingly close, and Will nervously placed his pinkie and ring finger over hers.

Jennifer smiled next to him, gently pushing her hand under his. Then, she pulled it out partway, turning it over so their palms were flat against each other.

Will hoped she didn't notice how sweaty his hand was. If she did, she didn't care, because she curled her fingers, locking their hands together.

They sat that way in comfortable silence.

"This is okay?" she asked softly.

"Yeah." _More than okay._

The girl next to him hummed, tilting her face to look at him. "I'm glad you came over."

"M-me too." Will wasn't entirely sure of what was going on. Well, he was, but he was having difficulty wrapping his head around it. The queen bee of the school was pressed against his side, _holding his hand._

Hiding from the demogorgon suddenly seemed simple. And a whole lot less nerve-racking then trying not to mess this up.

Jennifer squeezed his hand, and Will squeezed back hesitantly.

"Jen?" The two jumped apart as the door opened. "Who's bike is--oh! Who's this?"

"This is Will, Mom," Jennifer said, smiling at him. "From school."

"Yes, I remember. The one who went missing?"

Will flinched.

" _Mom,_ " the blond girl said.

"Sorry, sorry," the woman said, and left.

"Sorry about her," Jennifer said, rolling her eyes.

"It's all right, really."

She only smiled. "Do you have to get back?"

Shit, he does. His mother's going to be frantic. "Yeah. Um, sorry."

"No, it's fine," she said, shaking her head. "Thanks for hanging out with me."

Will smiles shyly, a foot out the door. "See you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow," Jennifer agrees.

Will pedals home, such a dopey smile on his face that a few give him funny looks.

For once, he doesn't really care.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has been too long! I promise I haven't forgotten!   
> I've decided not to scrap this story. Instead, I'm going to say that the Dustin/Emma storyline in "earth-bound misfit" takes place further along (in an alternate universe, obviously) where Dustin and Emma are a lot more comfortable with each other. So...you're welcome, or something?  
> Not much Dustin/Emma in this as I'd have liked, but things will start moving along in the next chapter, which'll be the rewrite of the birthday party.   
> Comment if you caught my Breakfast Club easter egg ;)


End file.
